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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – The decision by the Honduran Minister of Security to not only expand access to INTERPOL’s global databases, but also encourage all other Central America countries to follow suit, has been welcomed as a significant boost to regional security by INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

During their meeting on Wednesday, Minister Oscar Alvarez told the head of the world police organization that the Honduran national police would work in closer cooperation with INTERPOL to enhance its border control capacities by extending access to the INTERPOL Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database throughout the country.

“We feel it is important to close off areas to transnational organized crime, and Honduras has the political will and regional leadership to undertake this struggle,” said Minister Alvarez

“The region is experiencing difficult times due to organized crime and INTERPOL’s support to Honduras to enhance border control capacity is what we need to more effectively combat this threat,” added the Minister.

In 2010 Honduras installed a technical solution developed by INTERPOL which enables national police officers to instantly verify if a person is attempting to enter the country on a fraudulent travel document by making real-time checks against INTERPOL’s SLTD database, which currently contains more than 28 million documents from 157 countries.

Secretary General Noble said Minister Alvarez’s call for Honduran national police to work closer with INTERPOL and for other countries in the region to provide wider access to INTERPOL’s databases was a clear demonstration of Honduras’s commitment to national, regional and global security.

“Honduras is a key nation in Central America for both leading and initiating regional security efforts,” said Mr Noble.

“For national police to have access to INTERPOL’s global databases is a priority and we will work to ensure that these connections are made as well as providing the necessary training. Once implemented across Honduras, this will then provide a model for all countries across the Central American region,” concluded the head of INTERPOL.

Already in 2011, connected countries have made more than 300 million searches of INTERPOL’s SLTD database, resulting in more than 23,000 hits of people identified as travelling on a document reported lost or stolen.